Yes, I’ll probably do this again next year.

Happy (belated) birthday, Christopher Bowman. Once again I missed posting this on his actual birthday, March 30, but… well, nobody’s perfect.

Last year I gave you some of my favorite videos of his skating. I also wrote a bit about why I love him so much here. This year you get one of my favorite versions of his “Hollywood nightclub act” short program, all kitschy pasteboard sexuality. Musical, full of personality, without the frantic neediness this program sometimes had. His giant thrilled reaction when he lands his combination jump is so great.

And for a chaser here’s his 1991 Nationals free skate. It’s not quite right for him–too much Toller Cranston in the choreography; Cranston tends to be better at choreographing for himself than for others, and his individualistic, assertively weird style doesn’t quite fit Bowman’s weird-but-submissive longing or yearning style. And there are times when Bowman is skating so intently to get to his next jump that he loses the music a bit. But most of the jumps are excellent and he is working so hard to make this program his own, and by the end you’re just rooting for him so much.